Photo Credit: Fraser Valley Bandits (CEBL)

ABBOTSFORD, B.C., July 25, 2021 – The Fraser Valley Bandits suffered their loss at home for the first time all year as they fell to the Edmonton Stingers by a score of 87-79 on Sunday afternoon in front of a packed Abbotsford Centre.

Fraser Valley’s only lead was the very first bucket (2-0) to begin the game but never regained the lead as Edmonton held on to their lead from start to end. However, after being down by as much as 21 points in the second half, the Bandits rallied to cut the deficit to just three in the Elam Ending.

The Stingers were hot shooting at 49%, it seemed like everything they threw at the basket went in, 3 pointers… 2 pointers they were not missing much. Whereas The Bandits struggled until the last few minutes of the 4th quarter. For the Bandits this was their second straight and now puts them a full game behind the Niagara River Lions for third place in the league standings. It was a slow start for Bandits, with the team not playing with the same energy and confidence that fans are used to seeing until the fourth quarter when it was inevitably too late.

Neither of these squads will have to wait long to see each other again, as the Stingers and Bandits will play game two of a four-game regular-season mini-series on Tuesday, July 27 at 7:00 p.m. pt at the Abbotsford Centre.

All CEBL games are available for live streaming on the CEBL’s new OTT streaming service CEBL+, cbcsports.ca, the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and Android devices, and on Twitch.

A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 75 percent of its current rosters being Canadians. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball, the CEBL season typically runs from May through August. More information about the Bandits is available at thebandits.ca.